I don't think it's any less complicated, just another choice.

I only use powdered milk and whey-based milk substitute products (since 1981) for drinking/cooking/baking and regularly make kefir with real kefir milk grains and powdered milk. The product I prefer using is Grandma's Country Cream non-fat dry milk (http://grandmascountryfoods.com/CountryCreamPowderedMilk/), which I purchase by the 25# bucket. For 25-years I made LOTS of yogurt using powdered milk products, but since making kefir, I only make yogurt a few times a year (at most) since kefir is better for you and is so much easier to make, and doesn't require special temperature controls and equipment.

My "recipe": In a 1-quart jar add 2 cups of water and 4-5 tablespoons Grandma's Country Cream (add 1/8-1/4-cup half-and-half, if using it). Add lid and shake to mix. Add 1/4 to 1/3 c. milk kefir grains. Ferment to thickness desired.

I purchase powdered coconut milk from Wilderness Family Naturals - http://www.wildernessfamilynaturals.com/category/coconut-products-milk-powder.php - and make coconut milk kefir with reconstituted powdered coconut milk using milk kefir grains. Really YUMMY stuff..... :-) I rest the milk kefir grains in reconstituted powdered cow's milk between uses in coconut milk.

-Grainlady

Grainlady: Thank you for your help - as always. From what I've read, tap water should not be used when making kefir with dry milk. There are also articles condemning the use of any water bought in plastic containers. Please tell me exactly what kind of water you prefer when making kefir safely. Thank you. Pink

Good point about tap water..... We've distilled our drinking and cooking water for 28-years due to farm chemicals and now pharmaceuticals in the drinking water (which are not removed by the water treatment plant). It costs 21-cents per gallon for electricity, when checked with a Watt-A-Meter, and it dispenses it into a glass collection bottle and then is stored in three 3-gallon glass jugs in the laundry room. We have a ceramic water dispenser in the kitchen.

Before I found the 3-gallon glass jugs I stored the water in hard plastic jugs (this was long before the BPA "flap"), but you use the water so quickly it doesn't sit around in them very long (except in our emergency water storage in the basement and they are in BPA-free plastic jugs).

If it's a concern, you could make sure the water is fresh and not stored from whatever source you use. When we travel we use a Zero Water pitcher and I've used that water before for making powdered milk and making kefir, but it's an expensive way to purify water for day-to-day use.

The last 4-years we've used a Berkey during the summer (distillers put out a lot of residual heat and I had to put the distiller in the garage or basement - not very convenient). I didn't see any difference in the kefir going from distilled to Berkey water and back again.

I also make sure the quart canning jars/lids I use are hand-washed, rinsed, and scalded with boiling water and air-dried (kitchen towels, especially in-use towels, can introduce bacteria). I read where rinse-aids in dishwashers can coat the glass and kill the "good" bacteria, so I never wash them in the dishwasher. I did the same thing with jars I kept my sourdough starter in (which is when I learned that lesson - which was long before I got my kefir grains), and used the same method for any fermenting.

-Grainlady